Gaurav Phull, Rekha Phull, Dimple Aggarwal
Vol. 7, Jan-Jun 2019
Abstract:
Ayurveda is a science which is regaining its worth in 21st century. There are number of psychotic &somatic diseases which were widely explained in samhitas many centuries ago and the role of manas is also explained thoroughly. In brihtrayi, Charaksamhita explained the manas, its types, Mansika gunas, mano-vikara as well as chikitsa in a very descriptive way. The combination of body, senses, mind and soul, results in existence of living being. Manas has been labeled to play an important role in causing physical diseases like grahni, ardhavbhedaka, atisara, chhardi etc. The definition of health given in Ayurveda is comprehensive which included mental wellness as an important component. In modern science, the mental health and psycho-somatic diseases were introduced in 1908. The rich heritage of Ayurveda is depicted by the fact that even WHO reformed their definition of health few decades ago by introducing the mental health as the important aspect of health. Charaksamhitaadvocates many preventive measures to save from various mental disorders- Sadvritta, Achararasyana, Ritucharya and Dincharya are some of them. Simultaneously, various aushadhis are also recommended. Thus it is clearly evident that mental health and disorders related to it were well addressed in Ayurveda and if principles explained in ancient texts are followed properly, many diseases of present time can be prevented. This can help in achieving health in real sense.